Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F Parent Guide

Still beating the mean streets of Detroit, long-time cop Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) can’t imagine doing anything else. His slick, quick-talking, high-energy approach to policing gets results, but some of those results infuriate his superiors. Since Axel’s last case ended when he commandeered a snowplow for a destructive high-speed chase through downtown, it’s probably a good time for Axel to get out of Detroit.

As luck would have it, Axel gets a call from Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) in Beverly Hills. He’s eager to soak up some of that L.A. sun – but this trip is going to be far more business than pleasure. Axel’s estranged daughter, Jane (Taylour Paige), a determined defense attorney, is involved in a dangerous case and now her life is being threatened. Jane is not interested in catching up with dear old dad, but she does want to get to the bottom of this. And Axel Foley is just the man to help.

Optimistically subtitled Axel F to avoid reminding you that this is the fourth installment in a series that couldn’t support three movies, this flick is just a heavy guy getting on a crowded elevator. It’s kind of like watching the worst parents you know have another kid. Surprisingly, however, the movie didn’t make me want to hook fishing lures into my back and fling myself into the sea, which is exactly what Eddie Murphy’s last cinematic disaster, Coming 2 America, did.

Surprisingly, this production kept me in my seat and out of the water by pulling off the incredible feat of actually being funny – sometimes, at least. There are a few decent gags in the script, if you can weather the tsunami of tired 80’s action/comedy tropes on which the rest of the movie is built. Sometimes the film manages to ride that wave and feel fun and nearly charming, but after a while the bland familiarity sucks the fun out. It’s not like there’s much plot to distract you when the pacing takes a nosedive in the second act.

Family audiences can expect some of the usual action/comedy nonsense – car chases, shootouts (with minimal blood), and a plot revolving around dirty cops and drug smuggling. On top of that are generously sprinkled no fewer than 95 f-bombs. Not exactly a vocabulary builder, nor a strong choice for younger audiences. This is a movie hawking 40-year-old nostalgia to people at least that old, and even if it were squeaky clean, it wouldn’t be a smash hit with youth anyway. Frankly, I don’t think it’s going to be a smash hit with anyone, of any age, but I’ve been unpleasantly surprised before and likely will be again.